In manufacturing an electronic device such as, for example, a semiconductor device, various processings are performed on a processing target object such as a semiconductor substrate. A plasma processing such as a plasma etching may be exemplified as a processing for the processing target object. A plasma processing apparatus for performing the plasma processing includes an electrostatic chuck that attracts the processing target object by an electrostatic force within a processing container.
As described in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2012-212735, the electrostatic chuck includes an electrode for electrostatic attraction as an inner layer within a dielectric body. Further, a surface of the electrostatic chuck, i.e., the placing region of a processing target object includes a plurality of protrusions. The plurality of protrusions is generally arranged at grid points. In such an electrostatic chuck, the processing target object is placed on the electrostatic chuck to be in contact with top surfaces of the protrusions.